Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by dmsohyea:

4.95/5rDev n/alook: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

On tap at San Diego Brewing Co. 4/21/11.

I hate to be the guy who adds a beer and gives it an A+, but this beer was absolutely world class. This is the first time I've ever tasted a beer and immediately purchased a growler to take home. I tried this one after The Abyss, and it completely blew the highly rated stout out of the water. This beer is called "down under IPA" because it was brewed with Australian hops.

A - Pale yellow with good 2 finger fluffy head. Rentention was good all the way down the glass, and the lacing was incredible. So much stuck to the side of the glass it looked like I had chugged the whole thing.

S - Extremely pungent and floral. Wow! Tons of grapefruit, orange, and lemon. Some pine, but this is a very fruit forward scent. If I had to guess, I would say this was dry hopped with a ton of Amarillo.

T - Heavenly. Perfect balance of bitterness and smoothing sweetness. The bouquet and complexity of hopping is incredible. If I had to compare to another beer, I would say Sculpin, but I like the taste more, and this appears to be a fully filtered beer. Tastes a bit grapefruity, with just a bit of pine toward the back of the palate.

M - Creamy and fluffy with moderate carbonation. Doesn't finish dry, is smooth all the way through.

O - This is one of the best IPA's I've had, and I have had many. An absolute home run. I might put down this whole growler myself. I would even consider sessioning this beer as it's not crazy high in ABV.

More User Reviews:

A clear golden and a thin white head. Thick lacing down the glass. A substantial and thick looking IPA.

An incredibly aromatic IPA. Wow! Citrus citrus citrus! Hops galore! Grapefruit and orange citrus notes are what I first smell, along with a deep and sticky resinous pine character--perfect!

A bitter IPA, a floral IPA, a piney IPA, a citrusy IPA--this one literally does it all; and it does it all perfectly! My oh my! If I were given this one blind, I would never think it was a 6.7% ABV single IPA, it's as hoppy, piney, floral, and flavorful as any DIPA I've ever had. Exceptional.

Medium to thick bodied, plenty of carbonation, an absolute joy to drink.

My favorite IPA, hands down. This was a mind-blowingly good IPA. In my opinion, before drinking this beer, Russian River Blind Pig, Ballast Point Sculpin, and Green Flash West Coast IPA held the crown as the best IPAs in the world--that is, until I tried Down Under!

Once in a great, very long while, a beer comes along that is simply, marvelously, and surprisingly astonishing. And this is one of those beers. Bravo!